Two years ago, October “Toby” Daye believed she could leave the world of Faerie behind. She was wrong. Now she finds herself in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, sharing an apartment with her Fetch, and maintaining an odd truce with Tybalt, the local King of Cats. It’s a delicate balance - one that’s shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended. Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past....

One Salt Sea: An October Daye Novel, Book 5

October “Toby” Daye is finally doing all right. She’s settling into her new role as the Countess of Goldengreen; she’s actually dating again; she’s even agreed to take on Quentin as her official squire. Life is looking up all around - and that inevitably means it’s time for things to take a turn for the worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of Duchess Dianda Lorden, regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must not only find the missing boys, but also prove that the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction.

An Artificial Night: An October Daye Novel, Book 3

Changeling knight in the court of the Duke of Shadowed Hills, October “Toby” Daye has survived numerous challenges that would destroy fae and mortal alike. Now Toby must take on a nightmarish new assignment. Someone is stealing both fae and mortal children — and all signs point to Blind Michael. When the young son of Toby’s closest friends is snatched from their Northern California home and his sister falls into a coma-like state, the situation becomes way too personal.

Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel, Book 6

It’s been almost a year since October "Toby" Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day’s sleep. She’s tried to focus on her responsibilities - training Quentin, upholding her position as Sylvester’s knight, and paying the bills - but she can’t help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters. To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight....

A Local Habitation: An October Daye Novel

October “Toby” Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, most changelings are second-class children of Faerie spending their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day.

Chimes at Midnight: An October Daye Novel, Book 7

Things are starting to look up for October "Toby" Daye. She's training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down…at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit.

Rosemary and Rue: An October Daye Novel, Book 1

The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations.

A Red-Rose Chain: October Daye, Book 9

Things are looking up. For the first time in what feels like years, October "Toby" Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life - and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change.

Pocket Apocalypse: InCryptid, Book 4

Alexander Price has survived gorgons, basilisks, and his own family - no small feat considering that his family includes two telepaths, a reanimated corpse, and a colony of talking, pantheistic mice. Still, he's starting to feel like he's got the hang of things - at least until his girlfriend, Shelby Tanner, shows up asking pointed questions about werewolves and the state of his passport.

Discount Armageddon: InCryptid, Book 1

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Midnight Blue-Light Special: InCryptid, Book 2

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...

Half-Off Ragnarok: InCryptid, Book 3

What do gorgons, basilisks, and frogs with feathers all have in common? They're all considered mythological by modern science, and some people are working very hard to keep them that way. Alexander Price is a member of a cryptozoological lineage that spans generations, and it's his job to act as a buffer between the human and cryptid worlds - not an easy task when you're dealing with women who have snakes in place of hair, little girls who may actually be cobras, and brilliant, beautiful Australian zookeepers.

Indexing

For most people, the story of their lives is just that: the accumulation of time, encounters, and actions into a cohesive whole. But for an unfortunate few, that day-to-day existence is affected - perhaps infected is a better word - by memetic incursion: where fairy tale narratives become reality, often with disastrous results.

Blood Royal: Blood Destiny, Book 5

Xenides is searching for Lissa and out for blood. Nothng less than total destruction is his ultimate objective, beginning with the Vampire Council. After all, much of his elite fighting force was destroyed by Wlodek and his allies on a single night. Now, Xenides must regroup and looks to command the dregs of vampire rogues and human criminals to accomplish his goals.

Dark Heir: Jane Yellowrock, Book 9

For centuries, the extremely powerful and ruthless vampire witches of the European Council have wandered the Earth, controlling governments, fostering war, creating political conflict, and often leaving absolute destruction in their wake. One of the strongest of them is set to create some havoc in the city of New Orleans, and it's definitely personal.

Jinxed: Karma Series, Book 2

Karma. It's what they call me and the very essence of who I am. When I died young, I was recruited by the agency that keeps the universe running smoothly. As someone with a human past, most of my coworkers consider me inferior. But not everyone. Something evil has been stalking me for centuries. It's been biding its time, waiting for the moment when it will strike, and it needs me to do it. Its methods of recruitment are tearing apart every aspect of my life.

Sparrow Hill Road: Ghost Stories, Book 1

Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross - a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn't ask Rose what she thought of the idea. It's been more than sixty years since that night, and she's still sixteen, and she's still running. It's been more than sixty years since that night, and she's still sixteen, and she's still running.

Dead Heat: Alpha and Omega, Book 4

For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles' role as his father's enforcer. This time their trip to Arizona is purely personal, as Charles plans to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. Or at least it starts out that way....

Broken Soul: Jane Yellowrock, Book 8

Jane Yellowrock is a vampire killer for hire - but other creatures of the night still need to watch their backs....When the Master of the city of New Orleans asks Jane to improve security for a future visit from a delegation of European vampires, she names an exorbitant price - and Leo is willing to pay. That’s because the European vamps want Leo’s territory, and he knows that he needs Jane to prevent a total bloodbath.

Vengeance of the Demon: Kara Gillian, Book 7

Louisiana homicide detective and demon summoner Kara Gillian is about to learn that vengeance is a dish best served cold - especially when dealing with supernatural crime. But with her closest friends now in harm's way, the demons just made this one personal.

Angel of Chaos: Imp, Book 6

Samantha Martin didn't want the title of Iblis and all the hellish responsibility that comes with it. She sure as heck didn't want these feathery angel wings permanently affixed to her back, although those have their perks. She especially doesn't want all the extra projects the ruling council keeps dumping on her plate.

Off the Grid: A Jane Yellowrock Story

In Off the Grid, Jane goes on what looks like a simple mission for the Knoxville blood-master - finding a missing Mithran. Her search leads Jane to a young woman named Nell, a woman with a scarred past and a strange power, a woman who may hold the key to saving the missing vampire, if Jane can convince her to assist.

Kitty Saves the World: Kitty Norville, Book 14

Following the discoveries made by Cormac in Low Midnight, Kitty and her allies are ready to strike. But when their assassination attempt on the evil vampire Dux Bellorum fails, Kitty finds herself running out of time. The elusive vampire lord has begun his apocalyptic end game, and Kitty still doesn't know where he will strike. Meanwhile, pressure mounts in Denver, as Kitty and her pack begin to experience the true reach of Dux Bellorum's cult.

Magic Breaks: Kate Daniels, Book 7

No matter how much the paranormal politics of Atlanta change, one thing always remains the same: If there' s trouble, Kate Daniels will be in the middle of it. As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, she must now deal with the affairs of the pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel ancient being with god-like powers.

Publisher's Summary

Two years ago, October “Toby” Daye believed she could leave the world of Faerie behind. She was wrong. Now she finds herself in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, sharing an apartment with her Fetch, and maintaining an odd truce with Tybalt, the local King of Cats. It’s a delicate balance - one that’s shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended.

Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile. But if Oleander’s back, what’s her game? Where is she hiding? And what part does Toby’s mother, Amandine, have to play?

Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher. For the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda, and there are more players in this game than Toby can guess. With everything on the line, she will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most - because if she can’t find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she never thought she’d have to face again.

This is going to be really short because I'm still reeling in awe of how good this book was. Without getting spoilery, we learn a LOT about Toby and her Mom, there is the requisite, but always satisfying Hero's quest, we get to a crossroads in the romance department and finally we get Seanan McGuire's elegant prose.

If you've never read UF (Urban Fantasy), this series is a perfect introduction--it doesn't get better.

I read a short story by this author in Home Repair: Undead Edition. Ordered the first book in the series and got truly hooked. Found myself staying up too late just so I could hear the next chapter. The whole set is great.

The story is an enjoyable example of the recent fad in urban fantasy. Although in the first book I had a hard time getting used to the voice actor, I feel that she had gotten more comfortable with the characters and their voices in each book.

My only complaint about the story would have to be that everyone in Fairy seems so immature. Blaming Toby because she was there instead of the person who actually manipulated the events or the person who pulled the trigger so to speak.

I was not expecting the level of felt emotions that were found in this Phenomenally Thrilling Book! Seanan McGuire hit ALL the Buttons with this one. October's story grows more and more tangled and entwined with each book, adding more and more levels of character to our Heroine! This is one thrill ride I just can't climb off of!

I keep coming back to these books because frankly I love modern fantasy, and I really dig Seanan McGuire's work. But to be honest, I'm really, really not a fan of the narrator who's been tasked to narrate this series. I keep coming back despite it, and I -will- keep coming back despite it, but her performances are so painful to listen to, it seems like she doesn't really get going until the book's almost over. (At which point you've either gritted your teeth through or missed most of the first 3/4, due to losing track or disinterest..)

And unfortunately MRK was particularly rough in this book, teetering back & forth between underacting & overacting, far too many bad (and frequently inconsistent) accents, bouts of choppy reading, mispronunciations (of everything but the Gaelic words herein, which baffles me), and generally poor character interpretation. (Her women being particularly grating to me, as they often come across as nasal, whiny or sound so air-headed I doubt they could survive Ms. McGuire's complex yet dangerous fae world.) To be fair, some of her depictions I do like have been her Duke and Duchess. (I just wish the Duke's accent had remained consistent in this volume, and that we heard more of the Duchess.) On the other hand, while I enjoyed her characterization of "Danny" in previous volumes, her rendition of that lovable character this time was so overdone and rock-mouthed I couldn't stand to hear him talk. (While often having serious problems w/understanding what he was saying...)

In short, I have no problem w/Ms. McGuire's writing. For me, the issue is entirely w/the narrator, and I just deeply wish she/the publisher would have chosen (and might still choose) someone else to take up the gauntlet of narrating this magical series. (Katherine Kellgren, perhaps..?) As a life-long listener of audio books (I'm visually impaired, and so have been listening to Talking Books from an early age) I've learned that some of the best books can be made absolutely ruined by bad narrators, while a good narrator can take even a blah book and make it positively epic. (That is, to the ear of the "reader.") But.. that's the magic (and the danger) of audiobooks.

There are so many things to love about this story, the depth of intrigue and adventure, the complex cast of characters, the range of emotion....it is just a great tale.

Have you listened to any of Mary Robinette Kowal’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have only ever listened to Mary Robinette Kowal's performances on other October Daye novels. Her voices are consistent among the books. She does an especially good job of portraying emotion and creating distinctive character voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I definitely had trouble pressing pause when listening to this book. Between the story and the narration I did not want it to end.

Any additional comments?

This is a new favorite series of mine, thus far enjoyed primarily via audiobook.

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